Indian Court Bars Sale Of Chicken And Fish During Jain Festival

In India, Jains are celebrating a 9-day festival of Paryushana, ending today.  As reported by Express India and Times of India, in 2008 India's Supreme Court ordered all slaughter houses and meat shops closed during the festival in deference to the Jain community.  Yesterday, six traders asked the Gujarat High Court to allow them to sell chicken and fish (as well as meat already in stock), arguing that fish and chicken did not come within the Supreme Court's prohibition.  A single judge granted their request. However after a three hour hearing on the same day, a division bench made up of two judges reversed the interim relief granted by the single judge, holding that sale of chicken and fish would violate the spirit of the Supreme Court order and would hurt Jains' religious sentiments.